Dreamcast Game #09: Skies of Arcadia

エターナルアルカディア, Etānaru Arukadia, ETERNAL ARCADIA

This time, Shinkansen Retrogamer will pay tribute to Tomoko Kawakami, who died on this exact date, June 9th, 2011. This post on Medium will be dedicated to her memory. Kawakami was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in mid-2008, which required surgery. During a three-year battle with cancer, most of her ongoing roles were replaced by other voice actresses, although Kawakami was able to do some voice work.

Skies of Arcadia (known in Japan as Eternal Arcadia) is a 2000 Dreamcast role-playing video game developed by Overworks and published by Sega. Players control Vyse, a young air pirate, and his friends as they attempt to stop the Valuan Empire from reviving ancient weapons with the potential to destroy the world. The game uses traditional Japanese role-playing game systems such as turn-based battles and experience points, but puts greater focus on exploration, with the player flying an airship in 3D space. The development team included staff who had contributed to the Panzer Dragoon, Phantasy Star, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sakura Wars series. The late Rieko “Phoenix Rie” Kodama (1963–2022) is the game’s producer, Atsushi Seimiya and Shuntaro Tanaka (also the game’s writer) are the game’s directors, and Yutaka Minobe and Tatsuyuki Maeda are the game’s composers.

Skies of Arcadia received critical acclaim upon release and is frequently regarded as one of the best games for the Dreamcast, but the game underperformed commercially. A port for the GameCube, Skies of Arcadia Legends (known in Japan as Eternal Arcadia Legends) was released in 2002.

Gameplay

Skies of Arcadia is a role-playing video game (RPG) with an emphasis on world exploration. The gameplay is similar to early 3D Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games; the player engages enemies in turn-based battles to earn experience points, making their characters stronger. The overworld is divided into six regions, traversed by flying airships in 3D space; “Discoveries”, hidden locations, reward the player with extra benefits. The world map starts out blank, and it is up to the player to chart the map through exploration. The player may also recruit characters they encounter in exploration, allowing them to be placed on the ship or base’s staff, adding extra benefits to exploration or battle.

When docked on landmasses or warships, exploration occurs on foot. There, gameplay alternates between exploring cities and progressing through the game’s dungeons. Cities are visited to buy equipment to make characters stronger and interact with non-playable characters to progress the story. The dungeons exist in the format of a maze, with the player navigating the characters through it to obtain beneficial items in treasure chests while taking on enemies in random battles. Getting through the end of the maze generally culminates in a last-boss battle to be won before exiting. The battle system involves managing “Spirit Points”, “Magic Points” and a multi-colored “Moon Stone” system.

Characters

• Vyse (voiced by Yo-kai Watch star Tomokazu Seki in Japanese and Christopher Sullivan in English): A 17-year-old member of the Blue Rogue air pirates that resist the Valuan Empire. Vyse has an upbeat, optimistic, and determined personality, making him a natural leader. Vyse fights with twin cutlasses. He appears in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed as a playable character, reprised by the same voice actors in both Japanese and English.
• Aika (voiced by Tomoko Kawakami in Japanese and Victoria McCreary in English): Vyse’s close friend since childhood and fellow 17-year-old Blue Rogue. Aika has a strong and energetic personality and is deeply loyal to those around her, but has a bit of a fiery temper and an obsession with obtaining the treasure. She was orphaned at an early age and was cared for by Vyse’s family. Aika fights using an oversized boomerang.
• Fina (voiced by Persona 4 star Yui Horie in Japanese and Julissa Aguirre in English): A 17-year-old “Silvite”, one of the few survivors of the ancient, defunct Silver Civilization. Fina is beautiful, sweet-natured, and demure, yet has an iron will. She is initially naive to the Arcadian way of life but proves to be a quick learner. She forms a strong bond with Vyse and a sisterly bond with Aika. Fina’s pet, a silver ball-like creature named Cupil, fights for her.
• Drachma (voiced by Makoto “Mugihito” Terada in Japanese and Joseph Hughes in English): A 55-year-old man who lost his right arm, right eye, and only son while fighting the giant arc whale Rhaknam. His obsession with hunting Rhaknam for revenge leads him to search the skies on his small fishing airship, Little Jack. He pretends not to care about Vyse’s group, but he shows up to save them multiple times. He uses a mechanical right arm as a weapon during battle.
• Gilder (voiced by Dragon Ball star Norio Wakamoto in Japanese and Jay Styne in English): A handsome 32-year-old man, he is the captain of the light, swift pirate vessel Claudia. He is a laid-back, adventurous, and flirtatious individual, and dreads nothing more than being tied down by marriage, constantly fending off advances from Clara, a Blue Rogue obsessed with him. Despite this, Gilder is a highly experienced and capable air pirate. He uses pistols as his weapon and commands a parrot named Willy, who helps in getting him out of tough situations.
• Enrique (voiced by Soichiro Hoshi in Japanese and Robb McCulloch in English): At 25 years old, Enrique is the crown prince of the Valuan Empire but disagrees strongly with the imperialist policies of his mother, Empress Teodora. Unable to change or even influence the totalitarian ways of the empire, he joins the air pirates later on and even gives Vyse his flagship, the Delphinus. His frank nobility and chivalry are in direct opposition to the attitudes of most of the higher Valuans. Enrique uses rapiers in battle.

Around 12 years later, Vyse appears as a playable character in the 2012 Sega racing game Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, once again voiced by Seki and Sullivan, which also features a racetrack based on Skies of Arcadia, where the participants must drive and fly through the Blue Rogue’s home base while eluding attacks from the Valuan Empire.

Anyway, rest peacefully, Kawakami…

Cory out.